Mass Defections Darken Johnson’s Leadership Future
LONDON (AFP) -- Britain's leadership contest entered its finale Monday with the favorite Boris Johnson facing more defections from ministers over his Brexit plan.
The month-long contest between former London mayor Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is being decided by fewer than 200,000 grassroots members of the governing Conservative Party.
The winner will have three months to resolve a three-year Brexit crisis that could damage economies on both sides of the Channel and determine the fate of generations of Britons.
The voting window shut at 5 pm (1600 GMT). The new party leader will be announced on Tuesday and take over as prime minister on Wednesday.
Both candidates have had a rocky end to a campaign whose closing stages are being waged against a backdrop of a high-stakes standoff with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Finance Secretary Philip Hammond announced Sunday that he would make a point of resigning before Johnson becomes prime minister because of his threat to take Britain out of the EU by an October 31 deadline without a deal.
Pro-EU Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan announced Monday that he was also quitting "in anticipation of the change on Wednesday".
"It is tragic that just when we could have been the dominant intellectual and political force throughout Europe, and beyond, we have to spend every day working beneath the dark cloud of Brexit," he wrote in his resignation letter to outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.
London newspapers were filled with speculation that at least a half-dozen lower-ranking ministers may also jump ship over the coming days.
But Johnson doubled down on his pledge to take Britain safely out of the EU with the help of a new technological fix for avoiding a hard border with EU member Ireland.
"They went to the Moon 50 years ago. Surely today we can solve the logistical issues of the Irish border," Johnson wrote in his weekly column for The Daily Telegraph.
Hunt has also faced criticism over his handling of Iran's seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf on Friday.
Several ministers accused him Sunday of devoting too much time to his leadership challenge and not enough on his diplomatic duties.
May was due to chair a meeting of Britain's COBRA emergencies committee to prepare a response to the standoff in what will be one of her final acts in office.
Hunt was expected later to update parliament on the situation in the Persian Gulf.
An online poll of 1,199 Conservative Party members conducted Friday and Saturday by the Conservative Home website put Johnson on 73 percent.
Bookmakers give Hunt around a one in 20 chance of winning.
The month-long contest between former London mayor Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is being decided by fewer than 200,000 grassroots members of the governing Conservative Party.
The winner will have three months to resolve a three-year Brexit crisis that could damage economies on both sides of the Channel and determine the fate of generations of Britons.
The voting window shut at 5 pm (1600 GMT). The new party leader will be announced on Tuesday and take over as prime minister on Wednesday.
Both candidates have had a rocky end to a campaign whose closing stages are being waged against a backdrop of a high-stakes standoff with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Finance Secretary Philip Hammond announced Sunday that he would make a point of resigning before Johnson becomes prime minister because of his threat to take Britain out of the EU by an October 31 deadline without a deal.
Pro-EU Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan announced Monday that he was also quitting "in anticipation of the change on Wednesday".
"It is tragic that just when we could have been the dominant intellectual and political force throughout Europe, and beyond, we have to spend every day working beneath the dark cloud of Brexit," he wrote in his resignation letter to outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.
London newspapers were filled with speculation that at least a half-dozen lower-ranking ministers may also jump ship over the coming days.
But Johnson doubled down on his pledge to take Britain safely out of the EU with the help of a new technological fix for avoiding a hard border with EU member Ireland.
"They went to the Moon 50 years ago. Surely today we can solve the logistical issues of the Irish border," Johnson wrote in his weekly column for The Daily Telegraph.
Hunt has also faced criticism over his handling of Iran's seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf on Friday.
Several ministers accused him Sunday of devoting too much time to his leadership challenge and not enough on his diplomatic duties.
May was due to chair a meeting of Britain's COBRA emergencies committee to prepare a response to the standoff in what will be one of her final acts in office.
Hunt was expected later to update parliament on the situation in the Persian Gulf.
An online poll of 1,199 Conservative Party members conducted Friday and Saturday by the Conservative Home website put Johnson on 73 percent.
Bookmakers give Hunt around a one in 20 chance of winning.